garden goals and resolutions for 2013

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As I started thinking about what I wanted to accomplish to try in 2013, I naturally included gardening.

Gardening is such a regular part of my life now, and it makes me so happy. In some ways, it’s hard to believe I’ve been plugging away daily at my “little” garden (which now takes up about 30% of the lanai and three plots of property outside the screen!) for over two years, but in a lot of other ways it’s hard to imagine a time when I wasn’t so involved in tending plants. I mean, not only do I spend a considerable time out there doing the work, but I spend a tremendous amount of time *pondering* the garden when I’m not in it.

For Christmas, I asked for quite a few “new” plants– Peony, Camillia, and a new Bonsai. So I am excited to work with them- they are plants I have wanted since I started gardening but they are not local or even “zone friendly”. However, I’m willing to give it a shot.

I’m also becoming really interested in orchids. I have five and I love them- they are really simple if you are willing to give them the care they *do* require (fresh bark and repotting) when they require it. I like the way they look even when they aren’t blooming, and when they do bloom- it’s just breathtaking. I’d love to have a whole section of different orchids in my garden. I think I am going to really start keeping an eye out for good deals on orchids and begin building my collection that way.

I’d like to continue working on the front “bird” garden. It’s the little piece of land in front of my art studio window. When we moved in there was a large hibiscus there and some landscaping fill, and over time I have migrated some of my own plants (coleus, lantana, two rose plants, etc.) to it. Now I want to think seriously about replacing one of the “scrubbier” coleus with either a Jasmine (I have three different varieties in the back- one could “graduate”) or a hydrangea.

I’d also like to really get serious about some of the other landscaping, especially replacing some of the general landscaping bush with flowering/fruiting trees. I’d love a Clementine tree. I was going to ask for one for the holidays but I didn’t get around to the research.

I also want to create a “ladybug” colony for pest control- Tom offered to build a ladybug house and after we get that all set up, I’d like to purchase several batches of ladybugs and see if they will stick around.

And, I’d also like to just commit to growing more veggies. I did expand the veggie part of our garden a bit- planted more eggplant, cucumber, tomato, etc. But since we eat salads every single night, I want to look into planting more ingredients for it- radish, lettuce, etc.

OH, and I want to grow edible mushrooms. I heard it’s VERY simple and while it’s not necessarily outside in the bright sunlight, it’s something I’d like to give a try!

Finally, I want to look into and start getting some exotic species of plants that I love– some hibiscus and geranium and nasturtium. I have multiples of each of those, but I’d love to find more exotic varieties and bring them into the mix. Also, more Passiflora!